RT-AC86U vs 2X RT-AC1900P

[jdavidrobertson]

I'll shortly be moving into a smallish two-storey townhouse, approx. 630 sq. ft. per floor, and I need a new router. Ideally, I'd like to buy one that will either be able to serve the larger house I'm hoping to be able to afford in a few years, or be fairly easily extensible. I'm intrigued by ASUS' AIMesh, and right now I can get two RT-AC1900P routers for the same price as one RT-AC86U. I see that the 86U is highly rated, but how would it compare to two 1900Ps?

 

[Trip]

So many ways to answer this... but first, buy today's solutions for today's needs. So much can change in the span of a few years time, that quite frankly it's not worth worrying about or trying to plan for. As for a specific recommendation, if you're apt to want just a single router to deal with are open to a Netgear, a good amount of anecdotal evidence suggests the R7800 has the best range for the buck and is the most stable out-of-the-box (and updated, of course). Perhaps Asus has an equivalent that will performs as well, I'm not 100% sure. Another option if you have options for wired backhaul such as actual ethernet runs or coaxial with Actiontec MoCa adapters, is to do multiple wireless routers, with one set into AP mode. In my opinion, if you want to do a mesh, do it with a product like Eero as opposed to AiMesh, but to each their own.

 

[jdavidrobertson]

Another option if you have options for wired backhaul such as actual ethernet runs or coaxial with Actiontec MoCa adapters, is to do multiple wireless routers, with one set into AP mode. In my opinion, if you want to do a mesh, do it with a product like Eero as opposed to AiMesh, but to each their own.

Thanks for this. I've had a difficult time telling the difference between mesh and router+AP. Does mesh just mean that the devices can use wifi for backhaul, or is there some kind of roaming advantage as well? My goal is to have a single SSID that's accessible from all over the house.

That said, assuming that I decide to stick with ASUS, would you recommend a single 86U, or two 1900Ps connected via ethernet for the same price?

 

[OzarkEdge]

I'll shortly be moving into a smallish two-storey townhouse, approx. 630 sq. ft. per floor, and I need a new router. Ideally, I'd like to buy one that will either be able to serve the larger house I'm hoping to be able to afford in a few years, or be fairly easily extensible. I'm intrigued by ASUS' AIMesh, and right now I can get two RT-AC1900P routers for the same price as one RT-AC86U. I see that the 86U is highly rated, but how would it compare to two 1900Ps?

One 86U will likely cover both floors and is a current build, released in 2017. Your place is on the small side for multiple devices.

Also, the 1900s/68Us don't support Smart Connect node band steering, so an AiMesh would require separate SSIDs. If your unit is attached to neighbors, they would not like seeing your 4 WLANs blasting away.

OE